BRIEFING

top 60 survey

january 2013 accountancy

There are undoubtedly

a lot of unsettled,
talented people who
are uncertain of their
firms strategies
Peter Gillman,
managing partner,
Price Bailey

We are not in the position where

we need to merge to survive; we
are looking for opportunities to
grow our business through hires,
mergers, acquisitions
Nick Bennett, managing partner,
Scott-Moncrief

Just bulking up with smaller audit clients

doesnt feel particularly attractive to us
Scott Barnes, managing partner,
Grant Thornton

BOOM AND BUST

Despite a
troubled
year for
clients, total
fee income
is up and a
number of
M&As are
beginning to
reshape the
mid-tier. By
Philip Smith

t was quite a ride for the UKs top 60

accountancy firms in 2012. Mergers,
collapses and redundancies figured large
in the headlines, but so did revenue
growth, rising profitability and the
enticing prospect of increased competition.
The headline figure is straightforward in
2012, the 60 largest accountancy firms by fee
income saw their combined revenue almost
push through the 11bn barrier after growing
7.9% compared to their 2011 revenues.
Of course, the lions share of fee income
resides in the four largest firms PwC,
Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young. Between
them they earned 8.35bn in fees during
2012, an increase of 9.6% on the previous
year. Contrast this with the next six in the
league table, the largest mid-tier firms
Grant Thornton, BDO, RSM Tenon, Smith &
Williamson, Baker Tilly and Moore Stephens.
Collectively, they saw barely any increase to
reach a combined fee income of 1.39bn.
The next 10 firms, ranked 11 to 20, fared
marginally better taken together, these firms
saw their revenue increase by 3.8% to hit 608m.
In this pack that completes the UKs top 20 firms,
there were however, some standout performances
Crowe Clark Whitehill experienced 14%
growth while Saffery Champness witnessed
a near 10% jump in fee income, helped
by 15% growth in its tax business.
But, against the backdrop of continuing
competition investigations, the year will
perhaps be best remembered by two events
www.accountancylive.com

the troubles at RSM Tenon at the beginning

of the year, and the merger between BDO
and PKF confirmed in December 2012.
RSM Tenon lost both its chairman Bob
Morton and chief executive Andy Raynor
in January after the firm said it would need
to restate its accounts, an adjustment that
ultimately reduced the previous years pre-tax
profit by 12.1m. Chris Merry came on board
last February as the firms new chief executive
to steady the ship he set about cutting 20m
in annual costs and sold the firms personal
insolvency division to Grant Thornton.
At the time, new chairman Tim Ingram
said, somewhat understatedly: The last year
has been a really tough one for everyone at
RSM Tenon. By the end of 2012, Merry was
able to say that the firm continued to make
progress in returning to profitability, but there
can be little doubt that the troubles of the
past year have been a humbling experience
for the only accountancy firm listed on the
main market of the London Stock Exchange.
MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS
But while RSM Tenon was going through its very
public traumas, two other firms were privately
looking to come together. Rumours surfaced
in the summer that BDO and PKF were set to
tie the knot, a move confirmed by both sides
in November. The merger of the two firms
effectively creates a near 400m turnover firm
under the banner of the larger partner BDO.
The PKF name will go as a result in the UK.

BRIEFING

accountancy january 2013

top 60 survey

I certainly have no firms of

any size that Im having any
discussion with at the moment,
nor any plans to do so
Andrew Pianca, managing
partner, Crowe Clark Whitehill

This will give us first

mover advantage and a
degree of momentum that
other mid-tier firms wont
be able to achieve other
than by acquisition

We have emphasised the

importance of doing more than
just being a tax accountant to
our clients. This has supported
a growth in our retention figures
Simon Dolan, managing
director, SJD Accountancy

Simon Michaels,
managing partner, BDO

This is the highest [growth]

rate for six years, and we are
really pleased about that,
especially in these tough
economic times
Steve Varley, UK managing
partner, Ernst & Young

9
BDO managing partner Simon Michaels
boldly claims this will be the start of a longoverdue period of consolidation in the mid-tier
market. We were both keen to lead the way, he
says, and do it from a position of strength. This
will give us first mover advantage and a degree
of momentum that other mid-tier firms wont
be able to achieve other than by acquisition.
The move has prompted speculation that
other firms will get together. Scott Barnes,
managing partner for Grant Thornton, says
there could be other mergers, but we are
not looking at anything right now, though
if something attractive presented itself we
would look at it. However, Barnes adds
that his firm would probably be looking
for smaller boutique advisory firms. Just
bulking up with smaller audit clients doesnt
feel particularly attractive to us, he says.
That is not to say there have not been some

10.97bn

Total fee
income for the
Top 60 in 2011/12
was 10.9bn; recording
7% annual growth

tentative conversations taking place among

the firms. As Andrew Pianca, managing partner
for Crowe Clark Whitehill says: Partners and
chief executives do talk to each other from
time to time, but I certainly have no firms of
any size that Im having any discussion with
at the moment, nor any plans to do so.
However, Pianca does believe there will be
two or three more mergers in the not-too-distant
future, stressing that while his firm continues to
maintain double-digit growth, there is no need
to seek a merger partner, though he accepts
that such growth does make the firm attractive
to others. Ive certainly had a few phone
calls, he says, but nothing Im following up.
Certainly, there has been some merger
activity further down the table for instance,
Scotland-based Johnston Carmichael (ranked
21st, 29.6m) recently combined with Aberdeenbased Ritson Smith to significantly bolster
10

FEES BY SERVICE LINE

Fee income:
Audit and assurance

m
2,621
2,331

2,461

Tax
Consulting and corporate finance

2,118
2,000
1,598

1,774

1,703

1,500

1,205

1,631

1,329
1,072

1,186

1,000
500
0

BIG FOUR

2,500

2010

2011

PwC

2012

2010

2011

2012

2010

Deloitte

www.accountancylive.com

2011

KPMG

2012

2010

2011

2012

Ernst & Young

BRIEFING

top 60 survey

january 2013 accountancy

INCOME BY SERVICE LINE

AUDIT AND ACCOUNTING

TOP 60
bn

% change
12

10.97

11

10.33
9.92

10
9

15

TOTAL INCOME OF TOP 60 FIRMS

9
6

9.82

9.36

8.80

1
8

-3

-6

9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

-9
6

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

-12

Rank
Firm
2012 (2011)

10

10

10

10

10

its presence in the north east of Scotland.

The move will almost certainly see Johnston
Carmichael move into the top 20 in 2013,
with more than 500 staff in 12 locations.
Peter Gillman, managing partner at Price
Bailey (29th, 19.3m) puts about 50% of his
firms recent growth down to acquisition,
the most recent of which was a practice in
Mayfair, London, which furthered the reach
of the East Anglian practice. But Gillman
also sees opportunities to attract disaffected
partners and staff from other firms. There
are undoubtedly a lot of unsettled, talented
people in other firms and I am constantly
having informal meetings with people who
are uncertain of their firms strategies.
It is a similar story at Edinburgh and
Glasgow-based Scott-Moncrief (47th,
11.3m) managing partner Nick Bennett
believes there will be more consolidation
in the sector, but notes that often such
mergers are driven from London.
People in the smaller offices could feel
disgruntled, and there could well be some
disgruntled clients as well, Bennett says. We
are not in the position where we need to merge
to survive; we are looking for opportunities
to grow our business through hires, mergers
[and] acquisitions of good quality smaller
practices, but we will only do it if the opportunity
is going to be beneficial to all parties.
EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS
Job losses are a constant fear in the sector
RSM Tenon cut staff numbers as a result of
its difficulties during the year, but other firms
such as KPMG and Mazars have also appeared
in the redundancy spotlight. KPMG reduced
its non-partner headcount by 3% in 2012,
with 275 individuals losing their jobs across
the firm, while Mazars made around 5% of
its workforce redundant, including a limited
number of partners, towards the end of 2012.
In the case of the BDO/PKF merger, both
Michaels and Martin Goodchild, managing
partner at PKF, maintained that there would
be no redundancies as a result of their merger,

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Total

(1)
(2)
(4)
(3)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8=)
(8=)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(15)
(14)
(16)
(17)
(18)
(19)
(20)

PwC
Deloitte 1
Ernst & Young
KPMG 2
Grant Thornton 3
BDO 4
Baker Tilly
Mazars 7
RSM Tenon 5
Moore Stephens UK
PKF (UK) 8
Crowe Clark Whitehill 10
Haines Watts Group 9
UHY Hacker Young11
Kingston Smith
Smith & Williamson 6
Saffery Champness
Wilkins Kennedy
Chantrey Vellacott DFK
MHA MacIntyre Hudson

m
2012

m
2011

%
change

963.0
663.0
478.0
469.0
120.0
96.0
77.2
68.8
62.0
57.0
45.7
33.1
31.5
25.7
23.5
22.2
17.4
16.7
12.0
11.0
3,292.8

909.0
652.0
444.0
456.0
134.4
91.1
84.0
70.0
70.0
60.6
45.6
30.6
29.2
22.4
22.7
21.9
17.2
15.9
11.7
10.1
3,198.4

5.94
1.69
7.66
2.85
-10.71
5.38
- 8.10
-1.71
-11.43
-5.94
0.22
8.17
7.88
14.51
3.52
1.37
1.22
5.03
2.56
8.91
2.95

Footnotes: see page 14

8.35bn

The majority
of fee income is
earnt by the Big Four,
with 8.35bn in revenues,
accounting for 76% of
annual earnings across
the Top 60 firms

claiming that there was not a great degree

of overlap between the two organisations.
And indeed, across the sector, it would
appear that despite the current economic
difficulties faced by many clients, the Top 60 has
actually grown the number of staff employed.
More than 38,000 people are now employed
by these 60 firms, up from last years 36,300,
with 3,820 partners, up from last years 3,687.
The number of trainees is also on the
up now more than 13,000 individuals are
being trained by the firms, compared to
around 12,300 last year. In this respect, the
sector is looking remarkably healthy.
UNDERLYING GROWTH
So what is driving this underlying growth in
fees and people? Steve Varley, UK managing
partner at E&Y, has seen the firms fee income
grow more than 11% over the past year, with

www.accountancylive.com

BRIEFING

accountancy january 2013

top 60 survey

INCOME BY SERVICE LINE

TAX
BIG FOUR

20

PRE-TAX PROFIT AND PARTNERS

15
10

3,000

5
0
-5

2
1

4
3

6
5

10
9

12 13
11

17
14 15 16

18 19 20

3,029

2010
2011
2012

2,598

2,717

2,500

2,231

-10
2,000

-15

2,010 1,948

-20
1,500

-25
-30
-35

-3.0% +4.8%

% change

1,000

-40

Rank
Firm
2012 (2011)
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
Total

(1)
(2)
(4)
(3)
(5)
(6)
(8)
(7)
(10)
(9)
(13)
(12)
(11)
(15)
(14)
(18)
(17)
(19)
(-)
(-)

PwC
Deloitte 1
Ernst & Young
KPMG 2
Grant Thornton 3
BDO 4
Baker Tilly
RSM Tenon 5
Smith & Williamson6
PKF (UK) 8
Haines Watts Group9
Moore Stephens UK
Mazars7
Saffery Champness
Crowe Clark Whitehill 10
UHY Hacker Young11
MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Chantrey Vellacott DFK
Wilkins Kennedy12
Kingston Smith

m
2012

m
2011

659.0
529.0
431.0
380.0
91.9
80.0
46.0
35.0
34.0
21.7
21.0
20.5
19.5
14.2
14.0
10.2
9.6
7.8
5.9
5.4
2435.7

645.0
534.0
372.0
392.0
91.7
80.5
51.0
57.0
31.8
22.4
18.9
24.2
25.1
12.4
13.2
9.4
10.1
7.8
5.6
5.0
2409.1

Pre-tax profit m

+4.6% +0.9%

Partners

%
change
2.17
-0.94
15.86
-3.06
0.22
-0.62
-9.80
-38.60
6.92
-3.13
11.11
-15.29
-22.31
14.68
6.06
7.98
-4.65
0.00
5.36
8.00
1.10

Footnotes: see page 14

growth across the board. This is the highest

rate for six years, and we are really pleased
about that, especially in these tough economic
times. He puts a large amount of it down to
the firms international work, recounting how,
in the space of two weeks he travelled to New
York, back to London and then on to several
cities in China with his top management team
for meetings with clients and the government.
In the UK, we are making sure that our
clients dont view us as a domestic firm,
Varley adds. We spend a good deal of
time thinking through how we can help, for
instance, British companies wanting to break
into India, and we will provide workshops
on culture, tax issues, employment law.
At a sector level, Varley points to
financial services, oil and gas, and
consumer products as particularly vibrant
areas for the firm, the latter again in part
www.accountancylive.com

driven by the need for the firms clients to

do business with emerging markets.
The 8% growth in the firms audit and
accounting services covers the increasing
workload in fraud investigation and disputes
work, but Varley maintains that the core audit
service is still going well. We are seeing
a flight to quality, he says. This has come
despite questions raised over the quality of
the Big Fours work, with the ever-present
spectre of litigation and regulatory intervention
by UK competition authorities and the EU.
Grant Thornton, which has seen its fee
income grow nearly 11% as well over the
last year, experienced a dip in its audit fee
income, but saw significant growth in corporate
restructuring and corporate finance.
The core audit and tax business was
broadly the same as last year, which in this
market is a good result, but the growth
has really come from certain elements of
the corporate recovery practice, especially
the IVA [Individual Voluntary Arrangement]
business as well as the complex insolvency
business which also had a good year, Barnes
says. The firms corporate finance business
has also grown, in part helped by a few big
deals and it has also invested heavily in its
financial services advisory business. It can
be quite a volatile part of the business.
Barnes expects this growth to continue
into the new financial year, saying that
the firms first quarter figures suggest
a good result for the top line.
The bottom line is looking healthy for
many firms as well, though some have seen
a notable dip in profits. RSM Tenon is the
obvious example of the latter, which saw
its profit figures fall into negative territory,
while fellow listed accountancy firm Begbies
Traynor, also saw a dip in profits.
During 2012, Begbies disposed of its tax,
offshore and red flag corporate warning
businesses while attacking its cost base. In
a trading statement in October, Ric Traynor,
executive chairman of Begbies, said: Having
successfully reshaped the group over
12

11

11

11

11

11

11

BRIEFING

top 60 survey

PARTNER VALUE

HOW THE TOP 60

IS COMPILED
Information is collected through
a questionnaire sent out by
Accountancy and completed
by firms. Wherever possible,
we adhere to firms description
of service lines and structure,
and rely on the integrity of
the information provided. The
aim is to produce consistent
information as far as possible
and for this reason we have not
excluded firms or groups with an
unusual structure, although the
question of whether some in the
list are firms in the traditional
sense remains open to debate.

TOP 60

STAFFING LEVELS
4,906
736

2009

12
66,035

12

january 2013 accountancy

4,913
756

INCOME AND PROFIT 2012 (2011)

Rank

Firm

Fees (m)

Pre-tax profit
(m)

Partners

Fee/partner
ratio (000s)

(1)

PwC

2,621.0 (2,461.0)

727.0

(667.0)

872

(905)

3,006

(2,719)

(2)

Deloitte 1

2,329.0 (2,098.0)

560.0

(535.0)

991

(953)

2,350

(2,972)

(3)

KPMG 2

1,774.0 (1,707.0)

349.0

(396.0)

617

(579)

2,888

(2,950)

(4)

Ernst & Young

1,631.0 (1,465.0)

358.0

(350.0)

549

(527)

2,971

(2,780)

(5)

Grant Thornton3

417.1

(377.0)

76.0

(75.2)

202

(211)

2,065

(1,787)

(6)

BDO 4

283.0

(284.7)

51.2

(62.2)

196

(198)

1,444

(1,437)

(7)

RSM Tenon5

208.0

(228.0)

-9.0

(27.0)

225

(279)

924

(892)

(9)

Smith & Williamson 6

179.1

(170.4)

27.9

(21.6)

254

(227)

705

(755)

14 (15)

Crowe Clark Whitehill 10

59.3

(52.1)

15.1

(14.0)

72

(80)

824

(651)

15 (13)

Begbies Traynor Group

57.7

(60.6)

6.9

(8.5)

81

(87)

713

(707)

19 (19)

MHA MacIntyre Hudson

35.2

(32.4)

9.8

(10.0)

42

(42)

838

(771)

23 (20)

Menzies

28.5

(28.6)

8.5

(7.7)

34

(35)

839

(820)

25 (29)

Francis Clark

22.1

(17.20

7.5

(5.3)

44

(33)

502

(512)

28 (25)

Reeves & Co

20.3

(20.1)

5.9

(6.2)

39

(41)

521

(595)

29 (30)

Price Bailey

19.3

(16.4)

4.2

(3.8)

22

(22)

877

(754)

30 (27)

Frank Hirth

19.0

(17.1)

n/a

(1.3)

17

(16)

1,116

(1,069)

32 (37)

SJD Accountancy

17.6

(14.0)

7.6

(6.5)

(1)

n/a

(n/a)

38 (36)

Cooper Parry

15.8

(14.5)

5.2

(4.1)

22

(24)

716

(596)

41 (39)

Shipleys

13.6

(13.6)

5.2

(5.3)

16

(23)

850

(591)

46 (46)

Barnes Roffe

12.3

(11.4)

5.4

(5.0)

19

(18)

647

(633)

49 (55)

James Cowper

10.9

(10.2)

2.2

(2.1)

14

(14)

801

(728)

51 (55)

Hillier Hopkins

10.8

(10.2)

3.6

(3.4)

22

(22)

489

(463)

53 (49)

Simmons Gainsford

10.1

(10.7)

2.2

(2.3)

14

(14)

718

(764)

56 (58)

Rothmans

9.7

(9.4)

1.9

(2.6)

20

(20)

483

(470)

Total

9,804.4 (9,129.5) 2,231.3 (2,222.1) 4,385 (4,371)

1,186

Average

1,148

Footnotes: see page 14

2010

12

57,868

12

5,098
862

2011

12

69,639
5,408
892

2012

73,768
Male partners
Female partners
Other staff

the last year, we remain committed to growing

our cash-generative and profitable business,
both organically and through carefully targeted
acquisitions which enhance this core business.
But for every firm that saw a fall in profits
there were others that experienced a rise. SJD
Accountancy, a firm that specialises in advising
contractors and freelance professionals,
continues to report increasing profits, perhaps
benefiting from the ever-increasing number of
self-employed people in the UK economy.
Managing director Simon Dolan puts the
success down to growing the number of clients
while retaining existing ones. Weve refocused
our efforts on what our clients want, he says,
adding that research suggested their clients
wanted someone they could not only talk to
about their tax situation but also someone who
could review business plans and objectives.
Weve always provided dedicated
accountants but for the last year and a half
we have emphasised internally within SJD
the importance of doing more than just
being a tax accountant to our clients, Dolan
says. This has worked well and hopefully
supported a growth in our retention figures.
Gillman echoes this view. You need to keep
www.accountancylive.com

the clients you have got, he says, adding:

Client care is at the top of the agenda.
Of course, the elephant in the room that
has cast a shadow over the sector during
2012, especially at the top end, has been
the Competition Commissions review
of the audit market, together with the
legislative battle taking place in Brussels.
This issue is set to rumble on in 2013, and
the firms, outwardly at least, are starting
to sound sanguine on the debate.
We are looking forward to getting back
to client focus, says Varley, while Barnes
says he continues to watch with interest.
There is mood music around change, says
Barnes, predicting a particular shift in advisory
work in the direction of the mid-tier firms.
In that capacity, we are now working for
39 of the FTSE 100 companies, he says.
Barnes has seen an increase in the
number of audits coming up for tender,
particularly among FTSE 250 companies.
Once there is a tipping point, then we
may see some real change, he says.
Watch out for the Top 60 firms trainees
survey in Accountancy, February 2013

BRIEFING

accountancy january 2013

top 60 survey

TOP 60 FIRMS

SURVEY: UK ACCOUNTANCY FIRMS LEAGUE TABLE

LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
Listed PLC
Ltd
LLP/Ltd
Network/Ltd
LLP
LLP
See note
LLP
Listed PLC
Partnership
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
Partnership
LLP
LLP
LLP
Unlisted PLC
Partnership
Ltd
Partnership
LLP
Partnership
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
LLP
Partnership
Partnership
Partnership
Partnership
LLP
Partnership
No
LLP
LLP
LLP
Partnership
LLP
Partnership
Partnership
LLP
Partnership
Partnership
LLP
LLP

Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
No
No
Yes
Yes

d
en
ar
Ye

16,700
13,754
11,612
10,500
3,665
2,337
2,574
1,227
1,831
1,348
1,200
1,209
789
564
462
470
649
407
496
414
440
303
314
233
384
676
149
260
280
172
342
170
160
198
292
109
127
170
230
168
94
245
267
n/a
130
109
165
189
144
90
105
139
81
186
164
151
90
156
127
51
79,618

34
872
27
991
22
617
19
549
26
202
14
196
36
225
11
254
28
229
35
152
17
115
23
70
51
117
9
72
34
81
10
59
23
83
6
62
10
42
11
59
11
45
10
44
6
34
1
25
7
44
225
183
9
28
4
39
8
22
2
17
8
27
8
1
1
25
5
19
10
27
10
20
1
31
4
22
6
26
1
12
2
16
9
20
7
25
233
238
3
19
3
19
3
15
4
23
6
14
1
15
4
22
3
23
2
14
4
15
5
13
13
20
1
9
12
16
6
20
2
6
1,106 6,330

Auditor

r
to
di

3,006
2,350
2,888
2,971
2,065
1,444
924
705
745
894
1,003
1,476
527
824
713
951
588
653
838
512
658
659
839
1,014
502
119
761
521
877
1,116
670
17,600
696
901
633
845
526
716
596
1,192
850
675
528
55
658
647
753
489
801
727
489
448
718
667
746
483
1,022
541
415
1,367

ts

6.5
11.0
3.9
11.3
10.6
-0.6
-8.8
5.1
-6.3
-1.7
5.8
-4.7
6.7
13.8
-4.6
9.2
8.5
-1.2
8.5
7.5
6.2
1.6
-0.2
7.2
28.5
15.4
23.8
1.0
17.7
11.2
6.5
25.7
6.1
12.6
3.0
6.3
-0.6
8.8
11.5
5.9
0.0
1.5
25.7
4.0
7.0
7.9
-15.7
0.4
6.9
1.9
5.7
-2.8
-6.1
1.0
6.6
2.4
9.5
-0.9
27.7
5.1

Staff LLP?

Au

2,621.0 2,461.0
2,329.0 2,098.0
1,774.0 1,707.0
1,631.0 1,465.0
417.1
377.0
283.0
284.7
208.0
228.0
179.1
170.4
170.5
182.0
135.9
138.3
115.3
109.0
103.3
108.4
61.7
57.8
59.3
52.1
57.7
60.6
56.1
51.3
48.8
45.0
40.5
41.0
35.2
32.4
30.2
28.1
29.6
27.9
29.0
28.6
28.5
28.6
25.4
23.6
22.1
17.2
21.8
18.9
21.3
17.2
20.3
20.1
19.3
16.4
19.0
17.1
18.1
17.0
17.6
14.0
17.4
16.4
17.1
15.2
17.1
16.6
16.9
15.9
16.3
16.4
15.8
14.5
15.5
13.9
14.3
13.5
13.6
13.6
13.5
13.3
13.2
10.5
13.0
12.5
12.5
11.7
12.3
11.4
11.3
13.4
11.3
11.2
10.9
10.2
10.9
10.7
10.8
10.2
10.3
10.6
10.1
10.7
10.0
9.9
9.7
9.1
9.7
9.4
9.2
8.4
8.7
8.7
8.3
6.5
8.2
7.8
10,976.4 10,275.9

Fee/
partner
ratio
(000s)

un
co
ac
al

PwC
Deloitte1
KPMG 2
Ernst & Young
Grant Thornton 3
BDO 4
RSM Tenon 5
Smith & Williamson 6
Baker Tilly
Moore Stephens UK
Mazars 7
PKF (UK) 8
Haines Watts Group 9
Crowe Clark Whitehill 10
Begbies Traynor Group plc
Saffery Champness
UHY Hacker Young 11
Kingston Smith
MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Wilkins Kennedy 12
Johnston Carmichael 13
Chantrey Vellacott DFK
Menzies
Buzzacott
Francis Clark
TaxAssist Accountants14
FRP Advisory 15
Reeves & Co
Price Bailey
Frank Hirth
Armstrong Watson
SJD Accountancy
Haysmacintyre
Hazlewoods
Duncan & Toplis 16
Streets17
Littlejohn
Cooper Parry
Lovewell Blake18
Anderson Anderson & Brown
Shipleys
Larking Gowen
Bishop Fleming 19
AIMS
Mercer & Hole
Barnes Roffe
Scott-Moncrieff 20
Henderson Loggie
James Cowper
Silver Levene
Hillier Hopkins
Beever & Struthers
Simmons Gainsford
Barber Harrison & Platt
Forrester Boyd
Rothmans
SRLV
Thomas Westcott
Dains 21
RGL Forensics

Fee

nu

1 (1)
2 (2)
3 (3)
4 (4)
5 (5)
6 (6)
7 (7)
8 (9)
9 (8)
10 (11)
11 (12)
12 (10)
13 (14)
14 (15)
15 (13)
16 (16)
17 (17)
18 (18)
19 (19)
20 (22)
21 (23)
22 (21)
23 (20)
24 (24)
25 (29)
26 (26)
27 (-)
28 (25)
29 (30)
30 (27)
31 (28)
32 (37)
33 (32)
34 (35)
35 (30)
36 (34)
37 (32)
38 (36)
39 (38)
40 (40)
41 (39)
42 (43)
43 (53)
44 (44)
45 (45)
46 (46)
47 (42)
48 (47)
49 (55)
50 (49)
51 (55)
52 (52)
53 (49)
54 (57)
55 (60)
56 (58)
57 (-)
58 (-)
59 (-)
60 (-)
Total

Fees 2012 (m)

Fees 2011 (m)

An

Firm

us
at
St

Firm

f
af
St
rs
ne
rt
Pa
es
fic
of o
i
K
U
at
r r 0s
ne 0
rt 0
e
pa
m
e/
co e
Fe
in g
e an
Fe ch e
% om
c
in m
e 1
Fe 01
2
e
m
co
in m
e 2
Fe 201

Rank

Rank

Crowe Clark Whitehill

Grant Thornton
Grant Thornton
BDO
PKF
PwC
PwC
Grant Thornton
Kingston Smith
n/a
Crowe Clark Whitehill
Kingston Smith
n/a
Grant Thornton
Deloitte
n/a
See note
Price Bailey
Hillier Hopkins
n/a
Price Bailey
Grant Thornton
Princecroft Willis
Hillier Hopkins
Price Bailey
n/a
BDO
Clive Owen & Co
Crowe Clark Whitehill
Manningtons
n/a
Kingston Smith
n/a
Princecroft Willis
n/a
n/a
Price Bailey
Buzzacott
Crowe Clark Whitehill
Gregor Clark
Steele Robertson Goddard
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
HW Leicester
n/a
n/a
Monahans
n/a
Price Bailey
n/a
Sopher & Co
n/a
n/a
Mazars
n/a
n/a
Price Bailey
CBHC

Year end

30/06/12
31/05/12
30/09/12
30/06/12
30/06/12
29/06/12
30/06/12
30/04/12
31/03/12
31/12/12
31/08/12
31/03/12
31/03/12
31/03/12
30/04/12
31/03/12
30/04/12
30/04/12
31/03/12
30/04/12
31/05/12
30/06/12
30/06/12
30/09/12
31/03/12
31/12/11
30/04/12
31/05/12
31/03/12
30/06/12
31/03/12
31/10/11
31/03/12
30/04/12
31/03/12
30/06/12
31/05/12
30/04/12
30/09/12
31/03/12
30/04/12
31/03/12
31/05/12
30/04/12
30/09/12
30/06/12
30/04/12
30/11/11
30/04/12
31/05/12
31/03/12
30/09/12
31/03/12
31/12/11
31/03/12
31/03/12
30/06/12
30/04/12
31/03/12
31/03/12
14

www.accountancylive.com

13

13

13

13

13

BRIEFING

top 60 survey

january 2013 accountancy

TOP 60 FIRMS

TALENT: PARTNERS AND STAFF LEVELS 2012 (2011)

14

14

PwC
Deloitte1
KPMG 2
Ernst & Young
Grant Thornton 3
BDO 4
RSM Tenon 5
Smith & Williamson 6
Baker Tilly
Moore Stephens UK
Mazars 7
PKF (UK) 8
Haines Watts Group 9
Crowe Clark Whitehill 10
Begbies Traynor Group plc
Saffery Champness
UHY Hacker Young 11
Kingston Smith
MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Wilkins Kennedy 12
Johnston Carmichael 13
Chantrey Vellacott DFK
Menzies
Buzzacott
Francis Clark
TaxAssist Accountants14
FRP Advisory 15
Reeves & Co
Price Bailey
Frank Hirth
Armstrong Watson
SJD Accountancy
Haysmacintyre
Hazlewoods
Duncan & Toplis 16
Streets17
Littlejohn
Cooper Parry
Lovewell Blake18
Anderson Anderson & Brown
Shipleys
Larking Gowen
Bishop Fleming 19
AIMS
Mercer & Hole
Barnes Roffe
Scott-Moncrieff 20
Henderson Loggie
James Cowper
Silver Levene
Hillier Hopkins
Beever & Struthers
Simmons Gainsford
Barber Harrison & Platt
Forrester Boyd
Rothmans
SRLV
Thomas Westcott
Dains 21
RGL Forensics

872
991
617
549
202
196
225
254
229
152
115
70
117
72
81
59
83
62
42
59
45
44
34
25
44
183
28
39
22
17
27
1
25
19
27
20
31
22
26
12
16
20
25
238
19
19
15
23
14
15
22
23
14
15
13
20
9
16
20
6
6,300

905
953
579
527
211
198
279
227
117
156
117
97
111
80
87
61
94
64
42
56
46
48
35
23
33
175
41
22
16
26
1
23
18
28
25
28
24
21
12
23
19
19
243
19
18
17
23
14
17
22
24
14
13
13
20
6,124

127
140
91
93
26
23
30
48
36
22
11
7
12
12
11
14
13
13
9
8
3
7
2
3
5
39
0
8
0
6
4
0
6
2
1
3
5
1
2
3
2
2
3
n/a
6
1
2
6
3
1
2
5
1
3
0
2
0
3
3
1
892

125
133
86
95
35
21
36
43
36
22
13
7
12
15
10
14
11
12
5
7
3
6
5
3
4
24
5
0
6
4
0
5
2
1
3
5
1
1
3
3
2
3
20
6
1
2
5
3
1
2
5
1
2
0
2
877

2012
16,700
13,754
11,612
10,500
3,665
2,337
2,574
1,227
1,831
1,348
1,200
1,209
789
564
462
470
649
407
496
414
440
303
314
233
384
676
149
260
280
172
342
170
160
198
292
109
127
170
230
168
94
245
267
n/a
130
109
165
189
144
90
105
139
81
186
164
151
90
156
127
51
80,068

r
ne
rt
pa s
e/ 00
Fe 0
tio
ra

Staff
2012 2011

e
m
co

14

in

14

e
Fe
m

14

ff
ta

Firm
Firm
2012 2011

1 (1)
2 (2)
3 (3)
4 (4)
5 (5)
6 (6)
7 (7)
8 (9)
9 (8)
10 (11)
11 (12)
12 (10)
13 (14)
14 (15)
15 (13)
16 (16)
17 (17)
18 (18)
19 (19)
20 (22)
21 (23)
22 (21)
23 (20)
24 (24)
25 (29)
26 (26)
27 (-)
28 (25)
29 (30)
30 (27)
31 (28)
32 (37)
33 (32)
34 (35)
35 (30)
36 (34)
37 (32)
38 (36)
39 (38)
40 (40)
41 (39)
42 (43)
43 (53)
44 (44)
45 (45)
46 (46)
47 (42)
48 (47)
49 (55)
50 (49)
51 (55)
52 (52)
53 (49)
54 (57)
55 (60)
56 (58)
57 (-)
58 (-)
59 (-)
60 (-)
Total

ls
ta
To

e
al
m s
Fe ner
rt
pa

rs
ne
rt
Pa

Rank
Rank

Staff
(2011)
2011

Fees
2012
(m)
2012

14,973
13,075
10,150
9,239
3,685
2,419
2,858
1,250
1,935
1,324
1,100
1,537
764
549
524
468
566
413
400
388
412
299
308
214
342
555
243
250
164
328
153
153
195
301
125
136
173
213
166
104
247
180
130
105
175
184
125
100
107
155
92
171
162
146
74,530

www.accountancylive.com

2,621.0
2,329.0
1,774.0
1,631.0
417.1
283.0
208.0
179.1
170.5
135.9
115.3
103.3
61.7
59.3
57.7
56.1
48.8
40.5
35.2
30.2
29.6
29.0
28.5
25.4
22.1
21.8
21.3
20.3
19.3
19.0
18.1
17.6
17.4
17.1
17.1
16.9
16.3
15.8
15.5
14.3
13.6
13.5
13.2
13.0
12.5
12.3
11.3
11.3
10.9
10.9
10.8
10.3
10.1
10.0
9.7
9.7
9.2
8.7
8.3
8.2
10,909

Fees
2011
(m)
2011

2,461.0
2,098.0
1,707.0
1,465.0
377.0
284.7
228.0
170.4
182.0
138.3
109.0
108.4
57.8
52.1
60.6
51.3
45.0
41.0
32.4
28.1
27.9
28.6
28.6
23.6
17.2
18.9
17.2
20.1
16.4
17.1
17.0
14.0
16.4
15.2
16.6
15.9
16.4
14.5
13.9
13.5
13.6
13.3
10.5
12.5
11.7
11.4
13.4
11.2
10.2
10.7
10.2
10.6
10.7
9.9
9.1
9.4
8.4
8.7
6.5
7.8
10,276

Ratio
of fees
per
partner
2012
3,006
2,350
2,888
2,971
2,065
1,444
924
705
745
894
1,003
1,476
527
824
713
951
588
653
838
512
658
659
839
1,014
502
119
761
521
877
1,116
670
17,600
696
901
633
845
526
716
596
1,192
850
675
528
55
658
647
753
489
801
727
489
448
718
667
746
483
1,022
541
415
1,367

Ratio of
fees per
partner
(000s)
2011
2011
2,719
2,972
2,950
2,780
1,787
1,437
892
755
1,555
886
932
1,443
521
651
707
841
479
642
771
502
606
595
820
1,030
512
n/a
n/a
490
754
1,069
654
n/a
713
844
593
636
586
596
662
1,125
591
700
552
n/a
616
633
788
487
728
629
463
442
764
761
700
470
-

Notes
1 Fee income includes
211m from
Switzerland.
2 Corporate finance inc
transactions and
restructuring.
3 Consulting inc
corporate recovery
112.9m, forensic
investigations 17.9m,
other 31.5m.
4 UK fee income (Q2 to
6) subject to final audit
for year end 29 June
2012. Restated last
years profit to 58.3m
5 Fee income for 2012
and 2011 represents
continuing operations.
6 Offices inc Ireland.
Smith & Williamson
Holdings Ltd overall
holding business.
7 Audit & accounting inc
some corporate finance
and consulting fees.
Consulting fees inc
18m in insolvency
and forensic
accounting fees.
8 2010/11 figures are
restated on the same
basis as 2011/12. Both
years based on
accounts of PKF (UK)
LLP only.
9 Some practices are
LLPs.
10 Inc consultancy 1.1m,
insolvency 1m,
personal finance
3.1m, forensics
4.1m, pensions
0.3m.
11 Group of independent
firms, produce
accounts individually.
12 Converted to LLP May
2012.
13 Merged with Ritson
Smith October 2012.
14 Franchisees operate as
sole trader, part of
partnership or limited
company. Franchisees
report management
information monthly.
15 All income relates to
business recovery,
restructuring, interim
management and asset
finance. 2011 figures
10 months to
30/04/11.
16 LLP status under
review.
17 Firm made up of legal
entities, limited and
unlimited companies,
some but not all
accounts published.
18 Consulting income
included.
19 LLP status under
review.
20 Fee income inc 2.1m
turnover for ScottMoncrieff Wealth
Management which
was sold in 2011.
21 Inc revenue attributable
to ongoing activities
(Stoke-on-Trent
business acquired from
RSM Tenon).